


Tempus

by catboysam



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: ?? - Freeform, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Dramatic Irony, F/M, Family Feels, Gen, Loving Father and Husband Sparda, Merry Christmas Have Some Angst, Uhhhh i just kind of wrote this this morning lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28325331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catboysam/pseuds/catboysam
Summary: Maybe, then, it had been irresponsible of him to take a human wife and sire children. There was so much he needed to take care of, so many responsibilities that came with being the Legendary Dark Knight, that he would need to be away from time to time.
Relationships: Dante & Sparda & Vergil (Devil May Cry), Eva/Sparda (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	Tempus

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah idk man I just had a Thought about Sparda this morning and wrote whatever this is. I love a bug dad and I wish we could see him like, on screen, even if it's just a flashback of some kind to when the twins were little.

Sparda has never quite grasped the human perception of time.

Perhaps it was because of his demonic nature, but even after 2000 years of living amongst them, he was still taken by surprise when they were suddenly old and dying. Dear friends he had made mere decades ago would be gone in the blink of an eye, and he would be left with only a grieving family member or a gravestone to talk to.

Maybe, then, it had been irresponsible of him to take a human wife and sire children. There was so much he needed to take care of, so many responsibilities that came with being the Legendary Dark Knight, that he would need to be away from time to time.

But at the same time, Sparda could not deny his love for his family. His beloved wife, Eva, was beautiful, kind, clever, and willing to put up with his... eccentricities, which he was infinitely grateful for. What she saw in an old warrior like him, he didn’t know, but he was certainly not going to reject the affection of a woman who knew what she liked and wanted. 

And his sons... The emotions Sparda had felt when he had first gazed upon them, tiny soft bundles cradled in their very tired mother’s arms, were indescribable. He’d been so overwhelmed that he’d had trouble maintaining his human form in front of the midwife, and tears of joy had flowed from his eyes for hours as he was given the chance to hold his little nestlings for himself. Identical twins, with the white hair (in impossibly soft tufts) and blue eyes (so bright and clear) of his human form. The elder, Vergil, had stared up at him with an almost comically serious gaze, making small noises when Sparda called his name. The younger, Dante, had blinked up sleepily at Sparda’s voice before letting out a delightful squeak and joining his brother in staring at him. It seemed they recognized his voice from all the times he had gently spoken to them while they were still in their mother’s womb, reading them his favorite human stories and whispering tales of his past battles that he would not tell them again until they were old enough to learn his true nature. In that moment, of him holding his sons and them gazing up at him and Eva beaming with love at the three of them, Sparda pledged to protect this precious family he had found and made.

And that was why he could not remain at home at all times, as much as he desired to. The demons of the Underworld were relentless in their desire to enter the human world, and Sparda would not suffer any of them to live and threaten his family nor any others of the humans he had decided to fight for millennia ago.

But oh, how he hated it. This should have been a time of peace, where he woke up every day to his wife curled close to him, his children either safely in their shared crib or lying on his chest, their tiny fingers intertwined in their sleep.

Instead, the first several months after the twins were born saw him repeatedly having to take to the field, as his many enemies had been informed of that the infamous traitor Sparda had settled down and had nestlings, a family that was vulnerable and an easy target for their collective revenge.

After many battles, the last of which was an unexpected fight against three of Argosax’s former generals who wanted vengeance for their master’s defeat, Sparda was finally, finally able to return. He entered through the front gate of the mansion, wondering when the leaves on the trees had gone from spring green to fall red, and was greeted at the door by Eva, who pulled him into a deep kiss and smiled at him in a way that warmed his heart. 

She led him into the living room, where the twins were rolling around on the carpet near the fireplace. Sparda hesitated in the entryway. They were significantly bigger than before, though still obviously the size of human infants. Had he really been gone that long? Would his boys still recognize him? 

Thankfully, any fears he had faded when Dante and Vergil looked up and cried out in unison, “Da!” 

He joyfully scooped them up in his arms, the three of them laughing and his dearest sons’ little arms wrapping around his neck to hug him with all their tiny might.

He was home.

The years after that were happy, though it seemed that Vergil and Dante grew several inches every time Sparda blinked. Soon they were old enough to talk and ask questions and run around and play rough, and he and Eva delighted in everything their little boys did. Well, except when they played a bit too rough, but Sparda expected as much of demonic children. It would have been stranger to him if they didn’t.

He had watched them play out a mock battle with large sticks for weapons, and decided that it would be a good idea to prepare them to receive the gifts they would inherit sooner than later. The twins had gasped in awe at the swords he had shown them, Dante eagerly reaching for Rebellion and Vergil reverently holding Yamato. Attuning his old companions to them had been easy with their shared blood, and with Eva’s approval Sparda began training them with smaller, safer wooden swords. They had been so excited to spend time with him, to learn the basic forms from their father before teaming up to turn his teachings back on him. They never succeeded in beating him, but few had that claim, and Sparda was confident that the twins would one day become strong enough to surpass him. On that day, he would be the proudest father in both the human and demon worlds.

And then, his wonderful peace had shattered. News had come of Mundus slowly regaining power in the Underworld, his most loyal forces mobilizing to support him once more. Sparda knew his duty, and it was with a heavy heart and a burdened soul that he said goodbye to his beloved family once more. Dante had sobbed louder than Sparda had ever heard him, clinging to his leg and begging him not to go. Vergil had clung to his waist, wetting the stomach of Sparda’s shirt with tears and shaking his white-haired head as if to deny him permission to leave. 

And Eva, his sweet, understanding Eva, had given him a long kiss goodbye and told him to return as soon as he could. The twins were turning eight years old this year, and the two of them had planned on giving the boys the two halves of the Perfect Amulet as gifts. Sparda didn’t want to miss it. 

And so, after final goodbyes and wiping away tears with his favorite handkerchief and kisses to his darling boys’ little foreheads, Sparda left to end the machinations of Mundus’ followers before they could grow into a true threat.

But he had not expected a trap.

The last memories he had of the human world were full of dread and shock, feeling powerful magicks ensnare him... and then nothingness. And here he was, still floating in that nothingness, an unknown amount of time later. Was he dead? Was he sealed away, like he had done to his greatest enemies?

How long had he been away from his family? Were they safe? How old were his boys now? Did they still remember their father’s face? His love for them and their mother? 

If he was still alive, and was eventually freed, would he return to a set of graves like he had with so many of his friends in the past? 

Sparda had turned against Mundus and the demon world for many reasons. One of those was because he had found himself drawn to the humans the demon emperor had wished to kill and subjugate. And one of the reasons he had been drawn to them was their tendency to have hope, even in the most dire situations. Perhaps that was what he needed to do now. It would do him no good to despair in this place he was in. He could still hope, hope that his family was still safe and waiting for him, hope that he would find a way to return to them, hope that his sons had grown up strong and happy together. Hope that Dante and Vergil, with their demonic heritage, would live long enough to greet him when they saw him again.

Even if it took another millennia's worth of time, Sparda would hope.


End file.
